I'm one of those people that actually like to work on the day after Thanksgiving. No traffic problems, and everything is so quiet that I can get a lot done (or goof off without worrying that anyone will see me). (This year, it's going to be "get a lot done.")

In my division, I think it's going to be just me and the new attorney who has to be careful with the little annual leave that she's accrued.

in the past there was some negotiation with employees: who wanted to work T-day vs Christmas? Can your shift end early enough or start late enough so you had part of the day? Then too, there are people who prefer to work and don't celebrate T-day, Christmas and other holidays.

Right, I think it's the volume that really makes this different. I always enjoyed working T-day AM when I was at Starbucks, but you just needed a few people who felt like that and you were covered. A handful of people, and hours that are conducive to still preserving a bunch of the holiday. Now there's such a volume of shopping that stores are extra staffed up and my perception is that many people do not have a choice.

Our neighborhood Starbucks is advertising that they'll be open 41 straight hours on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

It's insane.

Now there's such a volume of shopping that stores are extra staffed up and my perception is that many people do not have a choice.

And then the Starbucks have to staff up, because more people will be coming in -- it's a snowball effect, I think.

Along similar lines, I was in a bar last night that was surprised by a very large party, and only had one bartender and one waitress working. It was kind of a cluster fuck.

At the library, nobody has both Wednesday and Friday off, so nobody can travel far for Thanksgiving. The vast majority of the people are from here, so it's not so much an issue for them, but I'll never be able to visit my mother for Thanksgiving while I'm working there, and driving to Cleveland to my in-laws would kind of be a problem, too. So it's not like the problem of working holidays is limited to the actual day, or limited to low-wage workers. (For Christmas, I've been scheduled to work the 27th, although asking for it off. So I'll have the 24th-26th off, and then work one day, and then have the weekend off, which feels like a waste. We can't reasonably travel for Christmas with that schedule.)

Oh, sure -- my new job closes between Christmas and New Year's, but of course all of the people who handle individual donors have to go in -- that's their busiest time!

I love taking the train up and down the northeast - so much more than flying. But the long-haul trips (Montreal >> NY, New Hampshire >> Philadelphia) can get really crowded still.

ION, slate with a FTW caption on that stock image (the article is relatively meh): [link]

But also, that really sucks, flea! Can people come to you?

One Christmas here I got a package on Christmas Day. I'm not sure what my Aunt paid for that, but anyway. The delivery person was wearing a Santa hat, and I asked her if she minded. She shrugged and said "No. Triple time." and was on her merry way.

Still trying to correctly tweak the clothing for temperatures. It's a bit more of a deal at work when I can't get comfortable.

There's an eager guy two rows over. When I get really loud about "boy" stuff, like comics or sci fi, he runs over and enters the conversation, and seems to always phrase it weirdly. Like--did he really want to know if I thought the X-Men could beat the Superfriends, or were we really talking about the JLA? The difference could be life or death there.

Monday, when I was extolling the glory of the kettlebell, he pretty much ran over crowing "You know what else is cool?" "What?" "Krav MAGA!"

Nah, he's never done it, but I told 'em to tell 'em I sent 'im, unless they've rotated everyone out or somehow I non grataed. He was just so eager, and then a bit crushed when I hadn't just heard of it, and then eager again when he realised what that meant, and...I just don't have that sort of conversational energy unless I'm in defence mode.

nobody has both Wednesday and Friday off, so nobody can travel far for Thanksgiving

Do people not travel on the day itself? Back when there were direct flights to Jamaica I'd fly in on Christmas morning sometimes. It wasn't heavily travelled, but all of us were supremely smug.